What will really impact how organizations are using BI?

Below is the trascript of a Webinar hosted by InetSoft on the topic of Next Generation Business Intelligence. The presenter is Mark Flaherty, CMO at InetSoft.

The second area of automation advances will be in the context of all of the data preparation. If I change one step, I better automatically propagate those changes to all the next steps. That is called end-to-end lifecycle management of BI. That’s another feature that some vendors are working on.

Speaking about the trends toward pervasiveness, a lot of other BI vendors will say their software is pervasive because it integrates with the spreadsheets on your desktop, but that is not enough. There are several very important components of pervasive business intelligence that are only beginning to be addressed.

Number one. We don’t really live in the world that is data centric. The world is process-centric. We all run budgeting processes, forecasting processes, all sorts of management planning, strategic processes. Today, in most companies, business intelligence and data analysis is not really integrated well with processes. So integrating BI inside of the processes is an opportunity. So that you are proactively forced to look at a report, forced to look at a dashboard when something goes awry, when performance deviates from plan or historical trends, that is one thing that is going to make business intelligence more pervasive.

Something else that is interesting: a lot of BI vendors talk about how their software integrates with spreadsheets or word processing applications, but what about email? Email is the most mission-critical application in any enterprise. If email stops, we stop working. The enterprise stops working. Very few vendors, today, integrate business intelligence with email, like we do with automated triggers and email alerts, for instance.

Case Study About How a Human Rights Advocacy Group Uses Business Intelligence Software

• Enable predictive analytics to help identify potential future human rights crises.
• Enhance collaboration by allowing different departments to access and share insights more easily.

Implementation Process

The implementation of BI software took place over six months and involved key steps:

1. Data Integration and Centralization The first step was to integrate data from multiple sources into a single platform. GJW's field investigators, legal experts, and analysts fed data from various sources into the BI system, including:

   • Field reports from remote areas.
   • Government data on human rights records.
   • NGO partner databases containing victim testimonials and legal cases.
   • Social media monitoring for tracking emerging issues.
   • Media reports from international news outlets.

   The BI software created a unified data warehouse that stored this information in a structured format, allowing for easier access and analysis.

2. Custom Dashboards and Alerts GJW's leadership team worked with the BI provider to develop customized dashboards that provided real-time insights into human rights conditions in different countries. These dashboards displayed critical data, such as the number of reported violations, geographic distribution of incidents, and types of abuses (e.g., unlawful detentions, disappearances, violence against minorities).

   Additionally, the BI system was configured to send automatic alerts to staff when certain thresholds were met (e.g., a sudden increase in reports of violence in a particular region), enabling a faster response.

3. Automated Reporting The BI solution replaced GJW's manual reporting process with automated tools that generated reports for internal use, donors, and external stakeholders. These reports could be easily customized to show key metrics, including trends over time, geographic hotspots, and the status of ongoing advocacy efforts.

4. Predictive Analytics for Crisis Forecasting The BI system's predictive analytics tools allowed GJW to forecast potential human rights crises by analyzing historical data and identifying patterns that might indicate future violence or repression. This enabled the organization to take a proactive approach, reallocating resources to areas where conditions were likely to worsen.

Results and Benefits

1. Real-Time Monitoring and Faster Response With access to real-time data, GJW was able to monitor human rights abuses as they occurred. This allowed the organization to respond more rapidly to emerging crises, such as civil unrest, government crackdowns, or forced migrations. For instance, when violence escalated in a conflict zone in Ukraine, GJW's real-time dashboard alerted its field teams, enabling them to quickly dispatch legal aid and document abuses.

2. Improved Reporting and Transparency The BI solution significantly improved GJW's ability to generate timely and accurate reports. Instead of spending days or weeks manually compiling data, reports could now be generated in minutes, with visualizations that clearly communicated key trends and findings. This led to more transparent and compelling reports, which improved the organization's credibility with donors and international bodies.

3. Data-Driven Decision-Making The organization's leadership could now make decisions based on accurate, up-to-date data. For example, by analyzing reports of human rights abuses across different regions, GJW was able to identify where resources were needed most, ensuring that legal aid and advocacy efforts were targeted to the most urgent cases. This data-driven approach led to a 20% improvement in resource allocation efficiency.

4. Predictive Insights for Early Intervention Using the predictive analytics tools in the BI software, GJW could identify trends that might lead to future human rights violations. By analyzing historical patterns of violence and repression, the organization was able to anticipate conflicts in certain regions and take preemptive action. This proactive approach helped GJW get ahead of potential crises, minimizing human suffering in volatile areas.

5. Enhanced Collaboration and Coordination The BI software facilitated better collaboration between GJW's various teams, including field investigators, legal experts, and policy advocates. With all departments accessing the same unified data platform, they could share insights more easily and work together more efficiently on cross-border human rights cases. This led to improved coordination in advocacy campaigns, legal interventions, and media outreach.

Key Takeaways

• Centralized Data Enables Efficiency: By integrating disparate data sources, GJW broke down internal silos and gained a holistic view of global human rights conditions. This allowed the organization to streamline operations and improve response times.

• Real-Time Monitoring Saves Lives: The ability to track developments in real time helped GJW respond more quickly to crises, ensuring that legal aid and other resources reached vulnerable populations faster.

• Automated Reporting Increases Transparency: Automated reporting tools reduced the burden on staff, freeing up time for more strategic work and improving the organization's transparency with stakeholders.

• Predictive Analytics Offer Strategic Advantage: By leveraging predictive analytics, GJW was able to identify emerging threats and act preemptively, allowing the organization to mitigate the impact of potential human rights violations.

• Collaboration is Enhanced with Unified Data: The BI solution fostered greater collaboration within GJW's global network, improving the coordination of advocacy efforts and strengthening its influence on international policy.

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